Game Reincarnation: Reborn as the Strongest Villain-Chapter 90 True Relationships.

"The total sum of your quest reward is 47 gold coins".

Layla, who returned from the back counter, brought a silver tray with a brown pouch filled with coins.

She laid the silver tray on the counter and slid it to Jin, whose expression was lax, or rather indifferent.

The total sum came from the forty-two regular Orcs slain by his group. One Orc was sold a gold coin. As for the additional five, it came from the Orc Chief’s reward.

Jin pulled the string attached to the pouch and pried it open to let the glittered golden light reflect in his emerald eyes.

He gulped his saliva to moisten his throat and took two gold coins in his hand before handing them toward the counter.

"Used this to treat those guys in the back". Jin pointed his thumb backward.

Layla’s eyes opened wide to see his generous attitude for willingly offering gold coins. "Very well".

"Then, I’ll be going".

The boy raised his hand to bid farewell to the receptionist and walked toward the place that resembled a bar.

All eyes gathered on him after hearing someone whisper a free treat with gold coins.

A moment of silence descended around the room. The adventurer who watched the boy pass them with a calm step gulped the tension in their face, then he disappeared from the place.

"Hooraay!". A thunderous cheer shook the building.

After leaving the building and feeling the cold wind caressing his cheek, Jin exhaled a white mist and stared toward the crowd.

"Well, what should I do to kill some time?".

He decided to let the girls have their moment for two longer, so Jin walked toward the marketplace with coins ready in his pouch.

As usual, even in this chilling weather, many stalls still merrily offered their wares, which enticed his nose to twitch in joy.

One by one, Jin browsed around the place with paper bags in hand.

After getting a taste of the skewer, he stored the rest and watched over the stall selling a variety of fruit.

They were brimming with a variety of colors and shapes, but some of them felt familiar, so Jin asked the chubby woman behind the counter.

"Aunty, what kind of fruit is this?".

"Oh, that fruit’s name was Winter Pear".

"Winter Pear". Jin flipped the fruit body to see that its shape resembled the one in his previous world, ’But, Winter Pear, I wonder what it’s called that way?’.

The woman clerk added, "It was a delicious fruit with a touch of chilled flesh, you will know when you bite it".

"Hmm, give me ten of them".

Jin tossed three silver coins toward the chubby woman, who received them with glee in her face.

"Thank you for your patronage".

When he received the bag from the lady, it faded and entered his Item Box.

With a flick from his hand, the fruit appeared on his palm, making the clerk and people nearby widen their eyes in shock.

After careful inspection, Jin sank his teeth into the tender flesh. It burst with a crisp snap, releasing a chill and mellow sweetness that flowed down his throat.

His eyes snapped open with each chew from his teeth; the juice started to flood his mouth with a numbing taste.

"Damn, this might be my favorite fruit so far".

This was the first time he ate any other fruit besides grapes and apples, his parents’ favourite.

However, for him, those two were too sweet for his taste he even became tired of it.

Before he realized it, the fruit in his hand was left with only its middle part, with its seed.

"Where should I toss it? Hm!?".

Away from his sight, Jin spotted a green-haired girl who dashed around the street with gleaming tears on her face.

"Nina? What happened?".

His expression tightened into a cold one, recalling the figure of that bastard who harmed the girl.

Jin’s pupil shrank as he darted away like wind before arriving beside Nina’s who stomped the ground hard, startled seeing a shadow come and block her path.

"B-Big brother?".

Nina’s eyes widened, her voice cracked like a barren land, laboured breath coupled with glistening sweat drenched her body, Jin’s expression twisted in the pit of rage.

"Nina, are you alright?".

The girl who saw a familiar face dropped to her knees like a puppet that had lost its string. Tears started to stream down her swollen eyes, and she sobbed.

"Uuuu, big bro, Mom is...".

Jin narrowed his eyes, hearing Iris’ name being mentioned. He crouched down and wrapped his hand around the girl’s back, and lifted her.

"Don’t worry, I’m here now". Jin caressed the girl’s trembling back tenderly, and a fiery spirit flickered in his emerald eyes. "I will definitely save your mother".

"Nina!".

A shout broke the tension that boiled inside his stomach, and dimmed the blaze in his heart.

"Eh? Iris, and Silvia too? What happened...?".

He pulled back his tongue, seeing that Iris didn’t have a thin layer of mana coating her entire body. His eyes shrank to see the ring on her finger also gone. ’Don’t tell me?’.

"Nina!". Iris dashed toward his place, her expression was crumpled in grief, "Please listen to me. Give me a chance to explain, please".

The girl’s knees trembled as she broke down while kneeling. Silvia, who watched everything, crouched down beside her, grasping Iris’ trembling shoulders.

"Jin".

Silvia’s azure eyes shattered the fleeting dream they had, and Jin noticed many eyes were staring them down.

"Let’s switch places, first".

"Let’s go, Iris. I will help you stand". Silvia wrapped a hand around Iris’s waist and let the Elven girl’s hand rested on her shoulder, leaving the place.

***

The place they visited was none other than Iris’ house. Jin exhaled in exasperation, seeing a bag filled with warm bread scattered on the floor, and a door hanging open for others to enter.

Jin brought the koala girl in his arms toward the dining table, but she clutched his clothes tightly.

He shifted toward Iris, who vacantly stared down, and a soul seemed to slip from her open mouth.

Silvia entered after collecting the spilled bread near the entrance and closed the door with a click.

Both engaged in a staring contest for a second before he exhaled. ’It can’t be helped’.

"What happened here?".

His clear tone jolted the mother and daughter duo. Jin looked toward Silvia, who cleared her throat, "Kuhum, it starts with...".

As the silver-haired girl replicated the event that transpired before meeting him.

Jin carefully observed the two expressions and gestures, watching if there were any responses, but overall, Nina was the only one who moved.

"Probably, Nina overheard Iris say that she was not her real daughter".

"...know it".

"Hm?". The boy’s ear twitched, hearing a faint whisper from the girl in his chest. "What did you just say, Nina?".

The girl curled her finger hard, crumpling the fabric, "I already knew it from the start".

"Huh?".

"Hm!?".

"Eh?".

Jin, Silvia, and Iris’s dumbfounded response overlapped with each other, creating an awkwardness that surrounded the room.

He turned to Silvia, who dropped her mouth to the floor, and so did Iris, who turned into a statue with raised brows.

His Jade eyes skill suddenly flared on its own, shoving his vision with the glimmering color of mana floating in the air.

Carefully, he patted the girl’s back and softly asked. "What do you mean by that, Nina?".

The golden aura that radiated from Nina’s body mixed with a fiery red emotion that spilled from her sobbing mouth.

"Years ago, while sleeping soundly with a drool in her mouth, I once saw mom’s true appearance after she accidentally didn’t put on her ring".

"I see, Iris drooling in her sleep".

Nina nodded after what Jin said and continued, "At that time, I was shocked and confused for days, but I felt scared to talk to her about that, so I kept it a secret and pretended I never saw it in the first place".

Light returned to Iris’ dimmed eyes. She lifted her face to stare at the girl’s small back. "Nina, you...".

"Excuse me, Nina". Silvia stepped forth while raising her palm to ask. "If you knew it from the start, why did you run away?".

Iris flinched upon the question, her body squirmed like a newborn fawn too afraid to hear the little one hating her.

"That was because...". Nina raised her head, glaring at Silvia with a tear-stained expression.

Silvia, who knew the answer from Nina’s eyes, gently covered her parted lips, amused by the event’s conclusion. ’I see’.

Jin nodded, seeing the red aura that covered his entire vision, ’The princess was mad’.

"Mom didn’t tell me the truth". Nina twisted Jin’s clothes. "Yet she blabbed it toward other people first, not me, the one who always waited for her to open it herself".

"She should have told me first". The girl kept stretching the fabric Jin was wearing while holding the tears that started to flood her cheeks again.

"Hmph, I guess mom doesn’t love me anymore".

"That’s not true". Iris jolted from her chair, sending it to the floor with a loud clatter.

"I love you, Nina. Even though we are not bonded by blood and flesh, but...".

Iris stood next to Jin, patting the girl’s trembling back tenderly, like holding something precious in the world.

"I hold you dear like my own daughter".

"Hmph,". Nina snorted and buried her face in Jin’s neck.

"Ni-na? Uuu,". Iris’ pupils shook, revealing a drop of tears that soon met her cheeks.

Jin and Silvia, who were trapped inside the misunderstanding, could only exchange relief exhaled.

Both became witnesses to Iris’s effort in regaining her daughter’s favor till night came.

Thus, the mother and daughter’s duo forged a lasting bond that wouldn’t wilt or snapped even by a storm of trials in their life.